What Is Customer Courtesy?

Customer courtesy means always giving customers the benefit of the doubt. Find out about customer courtesy with help from the author of "How Organizations Deliver BAD Customer Service and Strategies that Turn it Around!" in this free video clip.

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Hi, this is Barbara Khozam, author of How Organizations Deliver Bad Customer Service, And Strategies That Turn It Around! My company helps businesses create loyal, raving fans for customers in 30 days or less. In this segment, we're going to talk about what is customer courtesy? By definition, courtesy means polite, it means consideration of people. Courtesy is the foundation of great customer service. So, I'm going to give you three tips to build upon that foundation. Number one, acknowledge customers immediately. Within the first ten to 20 seconds of a customer walking into your establishment, they need to be acknowledged. And it could be something simple like a wave and a smile, specially if you're working with another customer. It could be a, hi, how are you doing today, something. People need to feel important, they need to feel special and recognized. I have to share with you a story. I was doing some Mystery Shopper visits in the Mid-West last week. I am a professional Mystery Shopper or a Secret Shopper. And I was expecting to have fantastic service, I went to two different towns, nine businesses in each of the two different towns. In the first town, I went to nine stores in two, I was acknowledged immediately. And the other seven, they looked at me, but didn't say anything. I stood around, no one even said, hi, no smile. I felt like my business wasn't even important, I certainly did not feel welcome. In the next town 21 miles away, it was completely different. In nine, out of the nine store, I was greeted immediately upon entering with smiles by everyone. Some of them even knew I was a visitor, oh, you're new to the area, great to have you. One woman offered me a white wine slushy. What? If that doesn't make someone feel welcome, I don't know what does. So, acknowledge is the first thing. The second thing you can do is, check on their status. If a person's walking around, wandering around, looking lost, ask them, is there anything else I can help you with? Some customers want to be left alone. And for those people, they'll say, no, I'm good, and you'll leave them alone. Others want a relationship, they want to have a conversation. And it's with those people and at this time that you can really shine. The third thing you can do, is give them a solution. And even if that solution involves sending them to a competitors store, you are going to create a loyal customer. Because when you solve their problem and you do it nicely and they have great feelings about you. I guarantee you, they're going to remember you. So, remember customer courtesy is the foundation, and to build upon that, we can simply acknowledge, check on their status and give them a solution. And I guarantee you, you're going to have loyal, raving fans in no time. Once again, this is Barbara Khozam, author of How Organizations Deliver Bad Customer Service, And Strategies That Turn It Around!